Novo riches for Gers

Walter Smith's extraordinary rate of success in Old Firm matches shows no signs of slowing. The veteran Rangers manager has now won all three of the renewals since his return to Ibrox last January, in the process not conceding a single goal.

From the moment Nacho Novo scored the first of his double - separated by a goal from Barry Ferguson - it was obvious Celtic had neither the wit nor the skill to prevent a setback that allowed their fiercest rivals to draw level on points.

Celtic's was an untidy, generally sluggish performance, marked by uncertainty in all areas and reflected in the nine yellow cards they accumulated for a variety of offences born of frustration. Rangers, on the other hand, were purposeful, focused and, especially after the opening goal, confident and assured.

That score from Novo would be no surprise to anyone familiar with Celtic's desperate record of having failed to keep an away clean sheet for more than a year. This seemingly interminable series even includes a Scottish Cup tie against First Division Livingston, so there was little likelihood of ending the hex at Ibrox.

Even so, the slipshod defending that allowed the little Spaniard to give Rangers the lead would have left Gordon Strachan - as well as the 7,500 Celtic supporters in the stand immediately behind Artur Boruc - perplexed.

Smith's inclusion of Novo - an irregular first-team pick - was surely in response to the news that Darren O'Dea would be at right-back for Celtic. The young Irishman, a natural central defender and emphatically left-footed, was drafted in as emergency cover and may have been seen as potentially vulnerable to the Spaniard's pace and skill.

In the event, it was the hesitancy of Stephen McManus and Gary Caldwell at the heart of the Celtic defence that Novo exploited. He started the build-up by supplying Ferguson, who swung the ball out to Alan Hutton on the right. As the full-back's low, teasing centre crossed the penalty area, McManus and Caldwell allowed the ball to pass by, perhaps fearful of turning it into their own net. Novo, nipping inside O'Dea, sent the diving header low to the right of Boruc from 10 yards.

Celtic's cause was not advanced by the loss of McManus to a head injury shortly before half time, the defender the victim of a powerful challenge by Daniel Cousin in the centre circle. John Kennedy came off the bench to take his place.

McManus's absence seemed especially significant when O'Dea, who by then had switched with Caldwell, was again the victim of a certain misfortune at the concession of Rangers' second goal. It began with the strangely sleepy Shunsuke Nakamura losing possession in midfield. The ball was played out to Cousin on the right and, from his cross, McCulloch had his shot blocked by O'Dea, but the ball stuck between the defender's feet. As he tried to recover control, Ferguson clipped the ball to the right of Boruc.

The moment captured the primary difference between the teams, Rangers' quickness and commitment contrasting tellingly with the pedestrianism and mental flabbiness of their rivals. The Celtic players, for much of the time, seemed to lack the hard edge that is normally the mark of champions.

By the time Novo completed his double from the penalty that resulted from Sno's trip on Charlie Adam, Rangers were comfortably in control, having allowed their visitors much of the possession they had denied them earlier, clearly convinced that Celtic were incapable of doing anything with it.

Novo ensured a memorable day for himself and the Rangers followers by drilling the penalty low to the left of Boruc.